A Token of Her Affection
by theotherjordan
Summary: Just a little something that demanded to be written. GJ friendship. My first ficlet!
1. Chapter 1

A Token of Her Affection

(Disclaimer: Neither the show "Crossing Jordan" nor its characters belong to me. I just take them out and play with them, before carefully putting them back where I found them.)

**A/N: My first little fan ficlet, kicked out of the nest! Jordan just wanted something to make life a little more bearable today, so I obliged her. (I can't figure out how to get spacers put in between the paragraphs, so I'll post this as a 4 chapter piece.) I'd love to hear what you think of it, and if I should keep writing or stick to reading everyone else's wonderful fics. ;-)**

Jordan got out of the car, pushed the door shut with her hip, performed a balancing act with her coffee mug on top of the papers she was carrying, and pressed the lock button on her keychain with her free hand. She headed for the elevator in the parking garage, already thinking about the day's work ahead of her at the morgue. The hint of snow in the air did not bode well for a quiet day; Boston's first snow of the season usually resulted in a barrage of traffic accidents, and more than a few of them sent bodies to the morgue.

Running her fingers through her still-damp curls, Jordan impatiently waited for the elevator. She reached to push the call button a second time, and promptly dropped her car keys on the floor. "See?" She mumbled to herself. "This is why I don't like mornings." Awkwardly bending to retrieve the keys, she spied the glint of a coin next to them, and scooped it up as well. The elevator chose that moment to arrive, and she shoveled keys and coin into her jacket pocket without a second look.


	2. Chapter 2

It was after eight o'clock that evening when Jordan poked her head into Garret's office. He was on his cell phone, but motioned to her wait. Hanging up, he grinned at her. "It's Friday night…got a hot date?"

"Yeah, right, Garret. You know I have no social life." Jordan grinned back at him. "Unless you wanna be it. Stand you to a drink at the Pogue?"

"Sure, why not? But give me a few minutes to clear up the last of the paperwork here…speaking of which, young lady, where are your autopsy reports from today?" Garret tried to look stern, but couldn't keep the smirk out of his voice. He knew how much Jordan hated filling out the paperwork associated with her job, and could never resist hassling her about it.

"Aw, Garret! C'mon, it's late; I'll get them to you in the morning." Jordan added what she hoped was an ingratiating smile. "Please? I promise! No later than ten o'clock. Honest."

Garret chuckled. "Make that two drinks and you're off the hook. But it's still gonna take me a half an hour to get done here. Meet you there?"

"Sure, that's good. I need to start a load of laundry at Dad's anyway…the washers in my building are all broken. Still. It's been weeks. Poor Dad, he probably thinks I'm trying to move back in with him, I have so much clothing at his house right now!" Jordan headed for the door and shot another smile at Garret over her shoulder. "Thanks. See you in a bit."


	3. Chapter 3

As an afterthought, Jordan decided to wash the jacket she was wearing as well, since there was extra room in the washing machine. She checked the pockets and found the coin she had picked up in the parking garage that morning, along with three old receipts and a half a roll of mints. She chucked the receipts and the mints in the garbage can, started the washer, and took a closer look at the coin. Not a real coin after all, it looked more like an amusement park token. It was definitely old, and she couldn't read the words in the dim light of the laundry room.

Holding the token in her hand, she hopped up on the dryer, pulled her knees to her chest, and rested her chin on them. As strange as it sounded, this was where she felt closest to her mother, sitting on the dryer in the laundry room of her childhood home. She was only ten when her mother was killed, and she didn't have all that many memories of her, but she clearly remembered laundry days. Emily would lift Jordan up to sit on the dryer, and they would chat as they folded clothes together. Jordan closed her eyes and breathed in the smell of the laundry soap; the light scent made her memories seem even stronger. She didn't even notice that she had started rubbing the coin in her hand like a worry stone.

Since the wash cycle on the old machine was a mere eighteen minutes, Jordan figured she might as well wait and throw the load into the dryer before joining Garret at the bar. She sighed and let herself drift with her thoughts.

She found herself wondering what it would be like to have a "laundry chat" with her mother now that she was a grown-up herself. What advice might Emily have imparted to her in the intimate comfort of that setting? Jordan, at thirty five years old, still had strong yearnings for her mother's affection. Actually, she reasoned, it was too bad that things couldn't be like the in the movies; her mother could send her some kind of sign that she was being watched over, loved, cared for, even when she felt so alone sometimes.

Half laughing, Jordan shook herself out of her reverie as the buzzer signaled the end of the wash cycle. Such nonsense running through her head! She was a woman who dealt, day in and day out, in cold hard facts; flights of fancy were really not her thing. She flipped the wet laundry out of the washer and into the dryer, started it, and headed up the stairs. She didn't want to keep Garret waiting too long, and she suddenly wasn't in the mood to be alone any longer.


	4. Chapter 4

"Garret! Sorry to make you wait. Have you been here long?" Jordan tucked her dark brown curls behind one ear and slid onto the barstool next to him.

"Nope, just walked in myself. I ordered us both a scotch – okay with you?" Garret smiled at her with genuine affection. "Or would you rather have a Guinness?"

"With the snow in the air, it doesn't really feel like a beer night, does it?" She wrinkled her nose at him and laughed. It struck him as funny too, and he joined in her laughter.

"And what, may I ask, is so humorous tonight?" Max set the tumblers of amber liquid down in front of them, and cocked an eyebrow at his daughter and her friend. For some reason, this caused them both to start giggling again, until Garret was gasping for breath and Jordan had tears in her eyes. Max grinned, shook his head at the two of them, and went to pour a draft for a customer at the other end of the bar. He liked seeing his beautiful daughter in such a good mood for a change.

Garret held up quarters and gestured at the pool table in the back of the bar. "Care for a game?"

Jordan snagged their drinks on her way out of her seat. "May I remind you of the whipping you took on this very same pool table last week, sir? Of course, I'd love to beat you again, if you think you're up for it!"

They continued their banter on into the evening hours, sipping their drinks, playing pool, and just enjoying each other's company. The bar slowly emptied as the hours rolled by. After winning three straight games, Jordan dug into her jeans pockets for more quarters and came up with the token she had found earlier that day. She looked at it again and realized she had rubbed some of the grime off earlier; the lettering was almost legible. She and Garret had their heads together over the token, trying to read it, when Max came over to check on the status of their drinks.

"Dad?" Jordan turned to him. "Have you ever heard of a Nipmuc Park? I think this is from an amusement park, but I don't recognize the name." She reached out her hand with the coin flat on her palm.

Max's jaw dropped, and he stared at his daughter. "Where did you get that, Jordan? Where? Tell me!"

"Dad? What's wrong? It's just an old token!" She was confused. "I found it in the parking garage this morning. Why?" Max was still staring at the token like it had sprouted wings, and Jordan and Garret exchanged blank looks. What was this all about?

"Ah Jordan, you've been to Nipmuc Park."

"I have? I can't remember ever even having heard of it before!" She frowned at her father. "Are you sure?"

Max sat down at the table and motioned for Garret and Jordan to do the same. He smiled at them and said "There's a story I never told you. You wouldn't remember it; you were only four years old. Your mother and I decided to take you to Mendon, to Nipmuc Amusement Park. It was only an hour's drive, and we thought you might be old enough to enjoy it.

It was a beautiful sunny day, and the park wasn't too crowded. You had your first cotton candy that day. And you fell in love with the carousel. We bought enough tokens to let you ride it over and over again." Max smiled at the memory. "I can still see you on that carousel horse, grinning from ear to ear and waving at us every time you came around. When we finally got you off that thing, there were only three tokens left. You begged to keep one, and your mother said 'This was the best day ever. Let's each keep a token and…'"

Softly and slowly, Jordan interrupted. "…and remember this day for the rest of our lives." She had a look of surprise on her face when she continued, "I remember that! I don't remember the carousel, or the park, but I remember Mom smiling at me and saying that!"

"Jordan, you were only four, you couldn't possibly remember that."

"No, Dad, I do. She was wearing a yellow sundress, and she looked so happy. It was like a little ceremony, and it made me feel so special. Why have I never remembered that until now? It's so clear in my mind!"

Max frowned and looked down at his hands. "I threw those tokens in the trash, Jordan, after your mother died. It was too hard to look at them. That park closed down shortly after we were there, and it never reopened. That was over thirty years ago." He looked across the table at her and wondered aloud, "How could you have possibly run across a token from there in a parking lot in Boston thirty years later?"

Max shook his head, got up, and headed for the bar door to lock it. Jordan turned to Garret and took a deep breath. "Gar, I know it sounds weird, but earlier tonight I was wishing I could have a sign from my mother, to know that she really cared about me. Do you think it's possible…?"

Garret put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. He spoke softly into her hair, "Yes, Jordan, I don't care how weird it sounds, I do think it's possible. Your mother loved you very much, and maybe this is your sign." He reached out and closed her hand around the token. "A token of her affection, Jordan." And they both smiled.


End file.
